This invention relates to fluid dispensing nozzles and particularly to a fuel nozzle retainer safety breakaway device attached to a fuel dispensing nozzle for retaining the nozzle in a tank during fueling of the tank and designed for breaking away from the nozzle and preventing harm thereto which occurs, for example, during drive-offs. More particularly, during refueling of diesel tanks on semi-trucks, the operator will often place the nozzle within the tank and depart from truck for an extended period of time while the tanks are being refueled. Two problematic situations have been noticed. First, the nozzle becomes dislodged from the tank dispensing large amounts of fuel onto the ground creating an environmental clean-up problem. Second, not infrequently, the operator will forget to remove the nozzle from the tank after refueling and depart from the dispensers pulling the nozzle and hose entirely off the dispensing mechanism and, in some cases, causing severe damage to the dispenser itself. For these reasons, there remains a need to provide a safety mechanism which addresses these problems which occur during refueling. The present invention is believed to solve these problems.
Prior devices have thus far addressed only the issue of providing a retaining mechanism for retaining or locking the fuel nozzle into a tank. Such devices are relatively cumbersome, expensive or problematic in their ability to retrofit the nozzle and hang on the dispensers while in nonuse. The present invention also addresses this problem and provides a solution thereto.